


Pay No Heed to Fallen Skies

by sequence_fairy



Category: Bleach
Genre: AU, Canon-Typical Violence, F/M, Post-TYBW
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-17
Updated: 2017-09-17
Packaged: 2018-12-30 22:58:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,283
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12119070
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sequence_fairy/pseuds/sequence_fairy
Summary: Ichigo has always known that his choices have consequences.





	Pay No Heed to Fallen Skies

**Author's Note:**

> This got away from me a bit. Title borrowed from D.H. Lawrence.

Ichigo is headed across the wall tonight,  _ Zangetsu _ strapped to his back and the gathering fizz of power in his blood. There’ve been reports of hollow incursions in some of the lower  _ Rukongai _ , and Ichigo is not about to leave them unchecked, regardless of what the official word from command is.

Rukia catches up with him just as he’s preparing to leap the wall. “What are you doing?” she hisses, and Ichigo shrugs. She knows that the orders this morning didn’t sit well with him, and that the white _haori_ chafes, but orders are orders and disobeying them is treason. They both know, all too well, the penalty for treason.  

Ichigo ignores her and jumps the wall, _shunpo_ lightening his landing. Rukia lands beside him, and catches him by the hand before he can take off again. “Listen to me,” she says, and Ichigo turns to look at her.  

“No,” he says, “you know this isn’t right. You know it, I know it, _everyone_ knows it. I’m not leaving these people to die, because Kyoraku said so.”  

“The captain-commander has his reasons,” Rukia protests, but Ichigo shakes his head. 

“That’s bullshit, and you know it.” 

“Ichigo–“ 

“Either come with me or don’t, Rukia. I don’t have time for this.” Ichigo steps out of her reach and launches himself into _shunpo_ , streaking off across the rooftops. He doesn’t stop to check and see if Rukia is following him, focusing instead on the telltale _reiatsu_ signature of a group of hollows in the distance.  

Ichigo is drawing _Zangetsu_ as he drops out of the slipstream, and his first swing cleaves the first hollow in half, it’s mask splitting cleanly. He hears Rukia before he sees her; she drops out of _shunpo_ muttering  a _kido_ spell under her breath and obliterating the next hollow that charges them in a flash of blue light. 

The fight that follows is fierce and violent. 

It’s close quarters in this alley; Ichigo ducks under Rukia’s next volley of _kido_ flames and throws himself into a skidding slide, _Zangetsu_ raised and it’s keen edge slicing through muscle and sinew as he disarms the hollow, before rolling to his feet and turning, shattering it’s mask with one hit. Rukia freezes the next one in place, and then runs it through, the roar of its death making Ichigo grit his teeth as he leaps and then drops, driving the point of _Zangetsu_ into the soft spot at the top of the spine of another hollow. It dies in a gush of murky blood, and Ichigo closes his eyes against the spray. 

They dispatch the last hollow together, and as it’s _reishi_ dissipates into the clear night sky, the street is silent once more around them.  

Ichigo takes stock. Rukia has a scrape across one cheek, and her blade drips, inky blood running in rivulets down the silver surface. Ichigo is breathing hard, and he can feel the beginnings of several bruises in the throbbing ache all along his left side. Rukia lets her _shikai_ go with a whisper of frigid wind that lifts the ends of her hair, and sheathes _Sode no Shirayuki_ after flicking the blood off the length of her blade. The droplets scatter against the dirt of the alley floor and Ichigo grimaces.  

“You didn’t have to come,” he says, finally, after the silence has stretched so long that he nearly aches to fill it. 

“I know,” she answers. 

“Thank you,” Ichigo says, and then steps out of the alley. The scent of hollow blood and the taste of hollow _reiatsu_ lingers in the air, and he wonders if there’s something they could do to cleanse the space, and he turns to ask Rukia, but she’s standing, frozen, staring at something behind him. “Rukia, wha–?”  

Ichigo doesn’t feel the first hit, but it throws him into the building across the way. He sprawls, groaning, in the rubble,  _ Zangetsu _ lost to his scrabbling hands. Ichigo coughs, and rolls onto his side, propping himself up with one hand. He gets as far as lifting his head before the next hit comes. This time it is a kick to the point of his chin and Ichigo sees stars and nearly loses his tongue as his teeth clack shut.

 “Fucking _Shinigami_ ,” a voice mutters from overhead, and Ichigo opens his eyes again, now on his back, and blinks up at his attacker. “You think you can just come in here–“ the man is cut off by Rukia’s wild yell, and Ichigo watches upside down, as she jumps him, slinging her hands around his neck, sword forgotten, and tackles him to the ground, using her body weight and momentum to counter the man’s center of gravity and topple him over. 

Ichigo picks himself up from the ground, and massages the back of his neck while Rukia holds their assailant down easily. The man is frothing with rage and tugging at the binding _kido_ Rukia slapped on him, ignoring Rukia’s admonishment that it’ll only get tighter if he keeps struggling. “She’s telling the truth, man,” Ichigo says, but the man grunts in response and tugs again against the restraints binding his hands.  

“Explain why you have attacked two _Shinigami_ captains,” Rukia demands, and there is ice in her voice. Ichigo ignores the throb of pleasure that rides in his belly at the command in her voice, and watches their captive instead. The man is dressed like an average citizen of the _Rukongai_ , but there’s a whiff of power about him that sets Ichigo’s teeth on edge. 

Ichigo prods him, none-so-gently, with the business end of _Zangetsu_. “She asked you a question, asshole.”  

“Don’t have to answer to likes of you.” The man spits, it misses Rukia’s toes by the barest of spaces. “Filthy _Shinigami_.”  

The insult makes Ichigo’s hackles rise, but Rukia’s hand on his arm eases the bristling rage under his skin. “It’s not worth it,” she says. Ichigo knows it’s not worth it, and to be perfectly honest, he doesn’t begrudge the man his opinion of  _ Shinigami _ as a whole, but an insult to Rukia is always enough to fire his blood. He looks down at her, and falls, as usual, and completely helplessly, into her twilight eyes. 

 After a long moment, Ichigo blinks and Rukia drops her gaze to the man on the ground. “What do you know about the incursions?” Rukia asks, and the man grunts. Rukia sighs, and Ichigo sheathes _Zangetsu_.  

“Shall we drop him at the Second division on the way home?” Ichigo’s question is all false levity. The man on the ground visibly flinches. Rukia follows Ichigo’s gaze and then looks back up at him; her mouth twists briefly in a moue of distaste at this tactic, but she will go along with him anyway. 

“I think there’s a spot in the holding cells at the barracks, no need to wake the Second’s captain at this hour,” Rukia says, conversationally. “Though, it might be better to take him straight there…” Rukia trails off and their captive remains silent. 

“The Second it is,” Ichigo declares cheerfully, and heaves the man to his feet. “Have you ever travelled by _shunpo_?” Ichigo asks, and the man remains stonily silent. “No? Well, this might be uncomfortable.” Rukia shakes her head at Ichigo’s antics, but takes the man’s other arm, and they step into the slipstream together, whisking their captive back across the _Rukongai_ to the wall. The three of them drop out of the slipstream, Rukia and Ichigo landing lightly, and their captive tumbling forward to his knees, retching.  

“Sorry about that,” Ichigo says, not looking very sorry at all. 

 The man clears his throat and looks up the two _Shinigami_. “Alright,” he says.  

“Alright, what?” Ichigo says, leaning down. The man looks away, unable to meet Ichigo’s gaze. Ichigo straightens. 

“I got information,” the man says, and Rukia looks at Ichigo over his head. Their eyes meet and Ichigo nods. 

“What kind of information?” Ichigo asks. 

“Stuff about them monsters, and that guy - the one you were all lookin’ for a while back? With them googly eyes all over hisself?” 

Ichigo feels Rukia stiffen next to him. The mention of Ywhach chills him to the bones. 

“What’s your name?” Rukia asks, sinking down so she can be at his level. Ichigo remains standing. 

 “Devin,” the man says, finally, though the admission seems to cost him. “I ain’t got a last name, so don’t ask.” Rukia nods, and Ichigo remembers all of a sudden that she lived in the _Rukongai_ for decades. He forgets more often than not that this is where she came from, and the resultant swoop of shame means he misses most of what the man says next. Rukia seems satisfied with the man’s responses, and continues to question him, carefully avoiding the subject of Yhwach and sticking to the more recent incursions.  

Devin seems to relax as he and Rukia talk, and Ichigo does his best to ignore the pit of dread that has opened up in his gut. Devin’s information about the hollow attacks seems to line up with what the Captain Commander had been outlining in their meeting the other night – they come in groups of five or six, slaughter whoever happens to be in their vicinity when the _gargantua_ rips open and then disappear, back the way they came.  

Rukia releases the binding spell before asking about Yhwach, and Ichigo feels rather than sees Devin blanch. “Them eyes,” he says, “they watch you, you know? Always watching. In every shadow.” Devin shudders. Ichigo doesn’t blame him. The night is warm, but Ichigo is covered in goosebumps and his hands have gone clammy. He wipes them on his _shihakusho_. Rukia’s sharp glance upwards is the only outward sign of her discomfort. Ichigo, as always, envies her control.  

They let Devin go shortly after that. Ichigo presses a card into his palm. The address is a tea house that the Kuchiki family runs in one of the middle districts of the _Rukongai_. The Second division and the stealth force it houses may be the official intelligence arm of the _gotei_ , but every noble family runs their own network of spies and informants, and the tea houses are the Kuchiki’s points of contact. “If you have more information, leave a message for us here.” Devin nods and disappears back into the shadows. Rukia’s shoulders droop and Ichigo feels the wave of exhaustion that signals the beginning of his own adrenaline crash. He steps forward and pulls Rukia to him, her small frame fitting easily in the circle of his arms. 

“It’ll be okay,” Ichigo says, with a confidence he doesn’t feel, and he presses his lips to the crown of her head. Rukia’s hands clutch at his waist. “We’ve got each other,” Ichigo says, “he didn’t count on that last time, and he won’t this time either. We’re both stronger than we were–” 

“It’s our fault, isn’t it?” Rukia interrupts, and looks up at him. “We did this, we chose our own happiness over the safety of both our worlds. Ichigo, how could we?” 

“No,” Ichigo says, firmly, “this is not on us. We defeated him once, despite his claims that he could not be destroyed. We can do it again, and this time, we’ll end him forever.” Ichigo wonders if Rukia can tell this is all false bravado. They both nearly died last time; his _bankai_ shattered and his power siphoned out of him until there was nothing left, and Rukia–  

Ichigo doesn’t like to think about waking up to a world encased in ice, and Rukia collapsed on the stone, her hair a white halo and her hand outstretched towards him. Yhwach was nowhere to be found. The official story is that they defeated him together, but Ichigo knew better, and Yhwach’s threat had echoed in his mind. 

Still, they dared to be happy together, and Ichigo put the voice out of his mind, consciously ignored the warning, and chose, instead, a life with Rukia, instead of a life without her. He doesn’t regret this choice, could never regret this choice, because a life with her is better than any life he could have had without her, and Yhwach had shown him several. 

There’d been lives where he’d married Inoue, settled down and had passel of children and a dog; a memorable life where he and Ishida had grown old and grey and snarky together; and lives where he’d ended up alone, watching his friends wither and age while he remained ever-youthful and the long stretch of eternity threatened to tear him apart at the seams, but never a life with Rukia, and when the vision had ended, Yhwach had answered the unasked question with a threat. 

_ I will return, when you are at your happiest _ .

Ichigo knew then, even as he threw himself at the Quincy’s self-declared despot, that choosing the life he wanted, the one with Rukia in it, was playing with fire, but he didn’t care, and even as his blow did not land and Yhwach’s hand wrapped around his throat, Ichigo knew he would pick her, and pick their life, never mind the cost. 

Rukia slips out of his embrace, and Ichigo shakes off the pull of memory. She looks up at him. 

“I’d always have chosen you,” Ichigo says, “no matter the cost.” 

Rukia turns so she is standing in front of him. Ichigo can feel the weight of her gaze. “I know,” she says, and leans up. The kiss is brief, but laced with heat. When they break apart, Rukia rocks back on her heels. “I love you too,” she says, and together, they leap the wall, landing hand in hand. 


End file.
